In-form Ghanaian midfielder Joseph Alfred Duncan struck twice as AS Sassuolo lost 2-6 to Atalanta at home in the Italian Serie A.
Duvan Zapata headed Atalanta in front from an Alejandro Gomez free kick in the 19th minute and Gomez himself added the second with a deflected shot three minutes before halftime.
There were three goals in a seven-minute spell early in the second half as Alfred Duncan pulled one back for Sassuolo, Gianluca Mancini restored Atalanta's two-goal lead and then Duncan struck again through Kevin Prince Boateng's assist.
Duncan registered his second on the day through an assist from compatriot Kevin Prince Boateng who had returned from an injury.
With the game on a knife-edge, Josip Ilicic was brought on in the 63rd minute and the Slovenian became the first player to score a hat-trick in Serie A from the substitutes' bench since 2011.
Ilicic opened his account with an angled shot in the 74th minute, added a second with three minutes left following an exchange of passes with Gomez and completed his hat-trick on the counter-attack in stoppage time.
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Duncan increases his tally to 3 in 11 appearances in all competitions for the club in the ongoing campaign.
Kevin-Prince Boateng joined his compatriot, Duncan this season at the Italian Serie A side, after excelling at Eintracht Frankfurt.
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